Just three years after the Obama administration relaxed travel restrictions to Cuba, nearly every major tour company is now jockeying for the hearts and wallets of U.S. tourists. And why not? When the Grand Circle Foundation, part of Grand Circle Corp., offered its first licensed educational exchange trip to Cuba (known as a people-to-people tour) in 2011, it attracted about 1,000 travelers. Last year that figure jumped to more than 2,000. And that’s just one agency.

People-to-people tours are education-based trips — one can’t simply show up and luxuriate at the beach — that can be offered only by travel companies that have obtained a license from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The latest tours are more frequent and far-reaching than ever. Companies such as Abercrombie & Kent are taking visitors to more remote spots on the island, allowing them to explore beyond Havana. And operators including National Geographic Expeditions — among the first to offer people-to-people tours back in 2011 — now have additional departures.

To comply with the Treasury Department’s people-to-people educational exchange rules, all of the following tours include personal encounters with Cuban artists, farmers, fishermen, doctors, mechanics or other locals.

If you want to go, here’s what you can expect to see, do and spend (keep in mind that, in many cases, airfare is not included in the price).

The luxury travel company offers a 10-day program that includes a private salsa lesson, a walk through Havana with a local architect, the opportunity to play baseball with a Cuban team and more. From $5,995 a person for double occupancy.

This company, known for its countryside walks, is offering tours to introduce travelers to “Cuban people from all strata of society.” The itinerary includes a visit to a local school, a cooking demonstration in Havana and a look at the life of Ernest Hemingway during his time in Cuba. The countryside walk is in the Viñales Valley, west of Havana, and includes a visit to coffee and tobacco farms. From $4,995 a person for double occupancy(18 days).

This nonprofit arm of Grand Circle Corp. offers two distinct, small-group tours, “Cuba: A Bridge Between Cultures,” and new in 2013, the 13-day “Cuba: Music, Culture & the Roots of Revolution.” Stops include the island’s second-largest city, Santiago de Cuba, where visitors can learn about the area’s Afro-Cuban influences; Baracoa, near the landing place of Christopher Columbus; and, of course, Havana. Rates from $4,595 for double occupancy.

In response to demand for shorter getaway options, Insight Cuba, which specializes in small people-to-people trips, offers several tours at seven days or less. Among them: a six-day tour called Vintage Cuba. From the colonial town of Santa Clara (home of the Che Guevara Mausoleum) to Havana, this tour takes travelers on a vintage steam train; introduces them to mechanics who maintain the vintage cars that have come to be associated with the island; and shows them the Cayo Santa María and the coastal town of Caibarién, known for its beaches. From $3,495 a person for double occupancy. The company, which has more than 100 departures to Cuba scheduled through the end of the year, offers other tours, as well, including Undiscovered Cuba (12 days), Classic Cuba (eight days), Scenic Cuba (eight days), Jazz in Havana (five days), Cuban Music & Art (nine days) and Weekend in Havana (four days).

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